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Rhetorics of Reform : The Case of New Public Management as a Paradigm Shift

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  • J. ROMMEL
  • J. CHRISTIAENS
  • C. DEVOS

Abstract

Many authors have claimed that New Public Management (NPM) has entailed a paradigm shift away from traditional public administration. This claim is literally based on the formulations of Thomas Kuhn: NPM is said to change the assumptions of the traditional paradigm and thereby causing a scientific revolution. This article reviews this claim, arguing that some criteria of a Kuhnsian revolution are not entirely met. For instance, the contradictions in NPM show that the pre-paradigmatic quarrel is not finished, the frameworks may also be commensurable and NPM’s problem-solving capacity is questionable. We argue that NPM is not a paradigm and that both supporters and opponents of the paradigm shift use the term as a rhetorical tactic to create a caricatural polemic.

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  • J. Rommel & J. Christiaens & C. Devos, 2005. "Rhetorics of Reform : The Case of New Public Management as a Paradigm Shift," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 05/354, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    • Handle: RePEc:rug:rugwps:05/354
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    File URL: http://wps-feb.ugent.be/Papers/wp_05_354.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. J. Rommel & J. Christiaens, 2007. "Blocking and Accepting Steering from Ministers and Departments. Coping Strategies of Agencies in Flanders," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 07/431, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    2. Daniel, Elizabeth & Myers, Andrew & Dixon, Keith, 2012. "Adoption rationales of new management practices," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 371-380.

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